Gimme Some Sugar

Blog Roll

Friday, November 08, 2013

ThinkProgress: Tuesday, as he conceded defeat in the Virginia governor’s race, Ken Cuccinelli II (R) told supporters
that he had come closer than polls had indicated “despite being
outspent by an unprecedented $15 million.” But while he and his
conservative supporters now lament that money cost them the victory they
felt they deserved, they have long been the defenders of the system of
campaign finance non-regulation in Virginia and nationally.

Because of the Old Dominion’s anything goes system, candidates can
accept millions of dollars from any individual or corporation seeking to
ensure their victory. While Governor-Elect Terry McAuliffe raised over $32 million, Cuccinelli himself reported at least $19 million in donations — including hundreds of thousands from fossil fuel companies who preferred a climate-change denier to a candidate focused on green energy.

Business donors are now fleeing the GOP and Tea Party candidates like Cuccinelli in particular.
A big part of the reason for this is the GOP’s obsession over debt and
deficits to the detriment of the economy and jobs. The Democratic Party
is now friendlier to business than Republicans — a position they find
themselves in by default, as the GOP abandons anything resembling fiscal
realism.

So the Americans United decision isn’t saving them and their
voter suppression schemes aren’t saving them. It seems the only way
Republicans have to stop losing elections is to stop trying to tell
voters what to think and instead, listen to what voters have to say.
They’re not going to like what they hear, but sucks to be them.

Of course, another option would be to push for legislation allowing
gun owners to use their Glorious Second Amendment Freedoms to walk into
polling places and force everyone to vote GOP at gunpoint. And I
wouldn’t put it passed them, because the other ways they’re trying to
rig elections just aren’t working.